Venezuela releases more prisoners amid US pressure campaign: rights groups | News

Second release of prisoners linked to 2024 electoral protests considered as a possible conciliatory measure on the part of Maduro.

Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro’s government has released dozens of prisoners detained for protesting against his disputed victory in the country’s elections in 2024.

The release of at least 87 prisoners comes as the administration of US President Donald Trump continues its pressure campaign against Caracas.

It was the second version in a week, in what some observers saw as an effort by Maduro to strike a more conciliatory tone, even as he accused Trump of seeking to overthrow his government and seize Venezuela’s vast oil reserves.

Two rights groups, the Committee for the Freedom of Political Prisoners and the Committee of Mothers in Defense of the Truth, confirmed the release on Thursday.

“On the morning of January 1, mothers and relatives reported new releases of political prisoners from Tocoron prison, in the state of Aragua,” in northern Venezuela, the Committee for the Freedom of Political Prisoners wrote on social media.

The Venezuelan government previously announced the release of 99 prisoners on December 25, calling it a “concrete expression of the state’s commitment to peace, dialogue and justice.”

However, Foro Penal, a prominent Venezuelan rights group, later said it was then only able to verify the release of 61 prisoners.

Maduro claimed victory in the July 2024 vote, saying he had secured a third six-year term. The opposition denounced widespread fraud, publishing results later verified by independent experts showing that Edmond Gonzalez had won a landslide victory.

Gonzalez ran in place of opposition leader Maria Corina Machado after she was barred from running in the election. Machado recently appeared in Oslo, Norway, after spending months in hiding.

The disputed vote sparked widespread protests across the country, leading to at least 28 deaths and thousands of arrests.

Official reports show that at least 2,000 people have since been released, while more than 700 people are believed to remain detained for political reasons.

The disputed election has, in part, increased the Trump administration’s pressure on Maduro, whom it accuses of running a drug trafficking operation aimed at destabilizing the United States.

The Pentagon has been ramping up its military assets off the coast of Venezuela since August, and Trump revealed earlier this week first attack on Venezuelan soil targeting a dock allegedly used to load drug boats earlier this week.

The United States has also blocked sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela, while simultaneously carrying out strikes on suspected drug boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, in what rights groups call extrajudicial killings.

So far, more than 100 people have been killed in the strikes.

Since his exile, Machado has vigorously supported the American pressure campaign. She was more circumspect about strikes on Venezuelan territory, while asserting that Venezuela has been “invaded” by “terrorist groups” and “drug cartels”.

Venezuelan experts have warned that many opposition groups in the country oppose U.S. military action.